There are many situations where it is desirable to prevent a blanket from touching the feet of a person in bed. For example, people who have frostbitten or severely burned feet should not have their feet touching the blanket or sheet. In addition, it is well known that people have a tendency to cross their legs when a blanket or sheet is resting on top of their feet. This poses a common problem among elderly persons where the crossing of the legs cuts off vital circulation to their feet. These and a variety of other situations present the need for a device for suspending a blanket or sheet above the feet of a person in bed.
Previous methods employed by hospitals have proved woefully inadequate. One technique has been the employment of a metal frame which extends directly over the feet of the person in bed. The blanket or sheet is then draped over this metal frame and, thus, over the feet of the person. This arrangement, however, is inadequate since slight movements of the bed-ridden person will cause his or her feet to contact the metal support rods of this frame. Any contact with such a hard surface would be very painful to people suffering the symptoms as stated above. Also, if the metal rods of this framework were suspended high enough above the feet of the person in bed, then the thermal insulating qualities of the blanket are negated.
Heretofore all efforts to prevent the blanket or sheet from touching the feet of the person in bed have either presented potential painful consequences to the person, or have resulted in loss of the insulating characteristics of blanket use.